The present invention relates to an arrangement for controlling an engine, in particular of an aircraft, having at least one gas lever, mounted in a housing in a movable manner and assigned to a guide element, and a regulating device for the additional automatic driving of the gas lever.
Such arrangements are known and are common on the market in a wide variety of forms and designs. They serve in particular to control and start up an engine, for example of an aircraft.
A disadvantage with such conventional arrangements is that they do not provide sufficient safety if, for example during operation with an autopilot, the electric circuit or even the regulating motor fails.
It is then often disadvantageous that the pilot is not able to recognize the actual situation and position of the gas lever or the operating state of the engine.
This may have considerable undesirable consequences, in particular it may even result in aircraft crashing.
GB 2 114 717 A discloses a control device for aircraft or ships, a control rod, for example, being linearly movable and being guided in a linear manner. In this case, this linear movement can be assisted by means of a spindle and an electric motor.
The object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the type mentioned at the beginning in which an engine can be permanently controlled manually and/or automatically in a simple, reliable and cost-effective manner.
This object is achieved by virtue of the fact that a rotational, manual and/or automatic movement of the gas lever can be transmitted mechanically to a displacement measuring system.
In the present invention, the gas lever sits on a spindle which can be driven via a regulating motor for operation by means of autopilot. The pilot then recognizes the current state, in particular the operating state, of the engine in every position and situation.
If, for example, this regulating motor fails, he can manually actuate the gas lever. A guide element, on which a displacement measuring system sits, rotates due to the actuation of the gas lever. This displacement measuring system then transmits the corresponding information directly or indirectly via a computer to the engine. The movement of the gas lever is then independent of the regulating motor.
It should also be within the scope of the present invention to use other displacement measuring systems which, for example, are suitable for detecting a rotary movement or a linear movement of the gas lever and for converting said rotary movement or linear movement into a signal.
In this case, the displacement measuring system may be of an inductive, magnetic and/or optical type. There is no limit to the invention in this respect.
Furthermore, it is important in the case of the present invention that the gas lever is guided rotationally and radially in a guide slot on a guide element which executes a rotary movement about an axis. This rotary movement of the guide element is then transmitted to the displacement measuring system.
Furthermore, it is advantageous in the case of the present invention that, without electrical power, a rotational movement of the guide element is transmitted directly to the displacement measuring system by purely manual movement of the gas lever. The displacement measuring system then delivers the corresponding signals for controlling the engine. As a result, the safety for controlling and starting up an engine is additionally increased.